The literature on the predictors of parental involvement has emphasized the role of demographic factors as triggers of parental involvement. Grolnick et al (1997) found that family socio-economic-status was a strong predictor of parental involvement. Several studies have reported that parents’ education is linked to parental involvement (Davis- Kean, 2005; Grolnick & Slowiaczek, 1994; Pena, 2000).
3.2.2.1 Family financial resources
Theory has established the need to analyze the behavior of parents within the context in which parents and their children live or function (Belsky, 1984; Bronfenbrenner, 1986). In other words, parental behavior in connection to their role and functions has to be looked at from the environment within which they are situated. The social context of parenting, from an ecological perspective, is the determining factor to the way resources are made available to the children. This point supports assertions raised by some researchers (e.g., McLoyd, 1990) to the effect that economic difficulties generally limit the effectiveness of parenting. Researchers such as (Brooks-Gunn, Duncan, & Mariato, 1997; Conger, Conger, & Elder, 1997) have observed that financial hardship which is more prevalent in single-parent families do not only circumscribe options for leisure time
activities and investments in education, but also normally brings about strains in the family system that undermine parenting. These strains in the family could therefore serve as a disincentive for the parents to be engaged in the education of their children. It is thus true that the inability of parents to get involved in the education of their children could be attributed to their limited economic resources (e.g., Conger, Elder, Lorenz, & Simons., 1994; McLoyd, 1990).
Similarly, there is evidence that high levels of stress have a negative and disruptive impact on some parenting characteristics such as warmth and responsiveness (Belsky, 1984; Roberts, 1989). Because of the stressful situations within which parents are entangled as a result of their financial incapacity, they become psychologically disoriented and emotionally disturbed and thus become oblivious to involvement activities. On the other hand, social support has been found to be positively correlated with the provision of a caring and an attentive family environment (Crnic, Greenberg, Ragozin, Robinson, & Basham, 1983). These supports are capable of easing the burdens on parents and also providing them with the time to enable them to be involved and also mobilize some resources to help them handle the stress.
3.2.2.2 Parents’ occupational status
The occupational status of parents has been identified as one of the predictors of parental involvement. In his criticism of the over-emphasis on the collaboration between parents and school staff by home-school partnership models, Lareau (1996) attributed this trend to the researchers’ under-estimation of the powerful influence of social class variations on the involvement of parents in school education. Some researchers have indicated that whereas parents of working class accommodate the view of separation of
obligation in education, middle-class parents see themselves as having a shared obligation in the educational process of their children. According to Dauber and Epstein (1989) working-class parents are more involved in their children’s home learning activities and are unlikely to partake in their school activities. Ho (1999a, 1999b) showed that there is an attitude of discrimination that educational establishments show against working-class parents which prevents or hinders them from taking part in the learning process of their children. Hanafin and Lynch (2002) in reporting the views of working- class parents in a disadvantaged plan or strategy in the Republic of Ireland indicated that parental involvement in school is limited to giving and receiving of information, restricted consultation, and participation in some supplemental duties. According to them, although the parents were interested, informed and concerned about the education of their children, they had the feeling of being left out from taking part in the decision-making of the school management and organization, about issues that impacted them personally and economically, and about the success of their children. These recent findings corroborate previous findings by researches (e.g., Hoover-Dempsey et al., 1997; Lightfoot, 1978) who have lambasted schools of their discriminatory policy which makes middle-class parents more acceptable to the school than working-class families. It has also been documented that although teachers seek equable participation from parents from diverse classes, parents of upper-middle–class are normally more directly involved in both their children home and school education than lower and working-class parents (Hoover- Dempsey et al., 1987; Ballantine, 1993).
3.2.2.3 Parental education
Another important socioeconomic variable that prompts parents to get involved in the schooling of their children is the educational status of the parents. Many researchers have reported that parental education is connected to parental involvement (Davis-Kean, 2005; Grolnick & Slowiaczek, 1994; Pena, 2000; Stevenson & Baker, 1987). Davis-Kean’s (2005) study insinuates that the amount of schooling that parents received has an effect on how they structure their home environment and how they interact with their children to promote academic achievement. Finders and Lewis (1994) list a variety of reasons that function as stymies to parental involvement (difficulty in getting permission from work, cultural differences with the teachers, psychological barriers due to personal academic failures), which are related to the socio-economic status and the educational level of the particular parent. Heyns (1978) has stated that one efficacious aspect of parenting is making an active investment in the child’s education, and the specific ways that this could be done are parental tutoring, organizing excursions to libraries, among others. Another study that was conducted by Baker and Stevenson (1986) revealed that educated mothers were abreast with their children’s school performance, had more contacts with their teachers, and were more likely to have provided intervention, should there have been the need in order to supervise their children’s educational success. It was also revealed that the mother’s choice of college preparatory courses for their children was done regardless of the children’s academic accomplishments. In a latter study, Stevenson & Baker (1987) similarly showed that the educational status of the mother is connected to the extent of parental involvement in the education of their children, so that parents who are higher up on the educational ladder are more involved. It was also observed that the
educational level of the mother and the age of the child are stronger predictors of parental involvement in schooling for boys than for girls.
In spite of the above evidence which suggests that differences in parental involvement could be as a result of differences in SES backgrounds, some researchers think otherwise (e.g., Hoover-Dempsey et al., 2005). According to these researchers, socioeconomic factors do not explain why parents become involved, nor do they explain why parents in similar or same SES genres differ tremendously in involvement practices or effectiveness (e.g., Clark, 1983; Scott-Jones, 1995; Shaver & Walls, 1998; cited in Hoover-Dempsey et al., 2005). But, this stance does not take away the fact that some parents are not able to take active part in the education of their children due to their deficient socioeconomic status background.